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China overtakes U.S. as biggest investor in Australia

by Andrea Waitrovich

For the first time, China was the largest source of foreign investment in Australia, according to the 2013/2014 annual report of Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board.

Real estate and services related applications accounted for around 76 percent of the value of approvals in 2013/2014. China received approvals to invest A$27.65 billion ($22.08 billion) in Australia, with almost half going into real estate.

The source of foreign capital in Australia is shifting to Asia from Europe. The United States, Canada, Malaysia and Singapore rounded out the top five, with Malaysia and Singapore replacing Switzerland and the United Kingdom in the top five sources of investment.

The United States had total approvals for A$17.5 billion ($13.82 billion) in investment in Australia, with real estate accounting for A$6 billion ($4.74 billion).